| <The Names of God - YHVH Tsid-Kenu> |
| Date of message: 15 September
2002 Subject: The Names of God - YHVH Tsid-kenu Shalom, Boker-tov ( good morning ), The prophet Jeremiah lived in the Southern Kingdom during the reign of King Josiah and he was greatly used by the LORD to warn the people of imminent judgement and the need for them to repent and to restore worship of the LORD in the Temple. The Babylonians ( present day Iraqis ) were already at the border and they were about to declare war on Judah. Instead of listening to him and repent, the rulers and the priests had Jeremiah arrested and thrown into a dried up cistern in a dungeon. Yet Jeremiah could not be silenced. His message to the people was too urgent for him to shut out. He warned the people about the impending captivity of all in Judah and their deportation into Babylon. He also warned them of false prophets who would be leading them astray. In Jeremiah 23: 2 he prophesied, Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel concerning the shepherds who are tending My people: "You have scattered My flock and driven them away, and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil of your deeds," declares the LORD. The leaders were punished and the people driven away from the land as a result. For seventy years they were subdued and subjected to slavery and they all died in a foreign land. Yet the LORD did not leave them without hope. In the same prophecy condemning the leadership, the LORD also prophesied hope of deliverance to the people ( Jeremiah 23: 5 - 6 ). " "Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. " In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'" ( In Hebrew, the name will be written as YHVH Tsid-kenu ) The prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus came in the flesh and died for all our sins so that we will be saved from eternal condemnation. On His body, our Lord Jesus took away our curse so that we are no longer under the curse of the Law ( Galatians 3: 13 ). Jesus led a righteous life while He was on the Earth. The evil spirits were afraid of Him because they knew who He was, the Son of God. Whenever the people who came to Him worshipped Him, He accepted their worship and even His enemies declared His righteousness. 1. Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him to the Pharisees and the scribes, felt remorse and went to return the thirty pieces of silver which he had received from the religious Mafia when he realized what he had done ( Matthew 27: 3 - 4 ); 2. The wife of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor at the time of Jesus' death, urged her husband to release Jesus whom she declared as "that righteous Man" because she had a bad dream that night about Jesus ( Matthew 27: 19 ); 3. Pontius Pilate himself wanted to release Jesus because he realized that He was a righteous Man but because of the crowd, he acceded to their request ( John 18: 38 ). The Jews thought that the Messiah would come and deliver them physically from their enemies and establish His earthly kingdom in their midst. However, this is not to be so. The LORD's plan is even bigger than their minds for He was referring to their spiritual state of being when He gave the word to the prophet Jeremiah. The apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Galatian church in Galatians 3: 6 - 9 states: - " Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. " Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. " The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "all the nations will be blessed in you." " So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. The Jews thought that they are sons of Abraham and therefore they stand in line to receive all his blessings. According to Paul, the Jews are only natural descendants of Abraham and the church are the spiritual descendants of Abraham and to them the blessings of Abraham will be poured out. It is a matter of faith and not natural lineage that would effect the blessings of Abraham. And it is to those who have put their faith in our Lord Jesus that He will reckon as righteous. We are righteous not because of what we have done but because of what He had accomplished for us on the cross. Our Lord Jesus so satisfied the Father when He died on the cross that whenever He looks at us, who have put our faith in Jesus, He does not see us as ourselves but as righteous because of His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Exodus 26: 15 - 30, when the LORD gave instructions to Moses to construct the tabernacle in the wilderness, he was told to erect twenty boards for the northern side and twenty boards for the southern side. On the western side, he was to erect six boards and there should be another two boards at the rear of the tabernacle at the corners. All the boards were to be of acacia wood, which is a hard wood that can withstand the harsh desert condition, and overlaid with gold. Wood in the Bible is usually used to represent mankind and gold usually refers to divinity. The church is made up of people ( represented by the acacia wood ) that have been cleansed by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and who now stand before the Father in the righteousness of His Son ( represented by the gold ). A total of 48 boards were used to erect the tabernacle and in the New Testament, the phrase "in Christ" is mentioned 48 times. What a privilege we have in Jesus, to be able to share in His righteousness and stand before a holy LORD and not fry. Have you put your faith in Jesus? Only those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham who was a believer himself. Why not pray this simple prayer of faith and commit your life to our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, our Daddy God, thank you that You love us so much that You sent Your only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to come into this world and to die for all our sins. Thank you that He rose from the dead on the third day and He is now reigning with You in Heaven and that one day He will return to receive us and we will be with Him forever. Thank you that because of that one death on the cross, our Lord Jesus was able to satisfy all the demands of the Law and as a result, all power and authority and dominion is now given to Him. Lord Jesus, thank you that You love me and because You died, all my sins - past, present and future - have been forgiven. Come into my life and live in my heart, Lord Jesus and because You live inside of me, I am now righteous before the Father and am now able to receive His blessings. Thank you that I am greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved because of what You have accomplished for us on the cross. I ask and pray all these in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Name that is above all names, Yeshua Ha' Mashiarch Adonai. Amen. If you have said the prayer above for the first time, welcome to the Lord's family. Know for a certainty that your sins are completely forgiven and that you are now a child of the Heavenly Father. As you grow in the Lord each day, spend time reading the Bible to help you understand the extent of His love for us. I encourage you to join a local church so that you can receive good teaching and grow in all spiritual things. The Lord blesses you and keeps you, The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones, The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace. Numbers 6: 24 - 26 Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov |